Pets and holidays

Although we look after small animals and birds when their owners go on holiday we do not look after dogs or cats. So like lots of animal owners I have to get the pets that I keep at home cared for. A number of years ago my family and I decided to go on holiday to Egypt. One of the main reasons being was that our young sons were very interested in the country and its history. So having agreed with my parents that they would keep an eye on the shop for me and pop over to my house twice daily to feed, water and generally pamper my 'At Home' pets we set off for an interesting holiday.
Just before we left my faithful old moggie decided that he wasn't too well. I took him to the Vet and the Vet said that there wasn't much that he could do as the cat was just suffering from old age. Now my cats always get a bit twitchy when the suitcases come out of the cupboard so I thought that this coupled with the fact the cat was old was the reason for his lethargy. I gave my Mother instructions about looking after him and with a bit of a niggling worry about the cat we set off. I needn't have worried because we phoned up every few days and my Mother reported that the cat had seemed to have recovered a little and was eating well and enjoying the Spring sunshine. Our holiday continued. We learnt a lot about Egypt and my two sons who were about 8 and 10 at the time really seemed to enjoy all the museums and ancient sights. They couldn't wait to get back to school to tell their friends and teachers about what the had seen. What they found very interesting however was all the information about the Egyptian mummies and how their bodies were preserved. Being two rather ordinary boys the more gruesome the explanations were, the better. Organs in jars, blood drained from the body, brains taken out via the nose. LOVELY!
After two weeks we returned home - boys full of interesting tales to tell about tombs and scary mummies, husband happy after recovering from a bout of 'Gippy' tummy and me just content to return and see our faithful old cat sitting on the doormat in the sunshine looking a bit like a leaky old man, but still well enough to give us a quick greeting and then get under our feet as we unloaded our cases.
The following morning was a different matter. My husband had to be at work early so got up before the rest of us. When he opened the front door to bring in the milk there was our faithful old cat dead on the doorstep. It was as though he had waited for us to come safely back home. We were all heartbroken. Especially me who had wondered where the cat was during the night as he usually came in through our cat flap and slept at the end of our bed.
Before leaving for work my husband scooped up the poor dead cat and placed him -still curled up- on a bench in the garage. The intention being to bury him later on that evening. My sons however had a different idea. Later in the day I found them collecting jars and bandages and trying to find a sharp knife. When I asked what they were up to I was informed that the Egyptians mummified their dead friends and family and their honoured animals and that was what they were going to do to our poor cat. They said that they would find the whole process very difficult, but thought that this would help the cat on its way to heaven! Unfortunately for them I had to halt the process and suggest that we bury the cat at the bottom of the garden with our other dead family pets. Explaining that maybe we could hold a little service of our own which only involved the digging of a hole and a few prayers. They reluctantly agreed and that evening we said goodbye to our pet.
But it wasn't too long until the boys got hold of a Norse story that involved the body of a dead Viking being set alight and then floated down a river. As we live on the banks of a river it was goodbye to Gunther the Gerbil after his long and fruitful life (he fathered about 50 offspring). An empty tissue box was found and Gunther was given full funeral rites and floated off down river. I did halt the proceedings when the boys tried to pour lighter fluid over him and set it all alight. There had also been talk of rockets and cremated remains, but fortunately the boys attentions turned to other pastimes and their interests wained.